Broom-hanger.



F. THORPH.

BROOM HANGER. APPLIOATIOE IILEI) MAR. 21, 1910.

Patented Nov. 1, 1910.

IIIII/ e @FFKQE.

FRANK 1VL THORPE, 0F LAMAR, MISSOURI.

BROOM-HANGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 1, 1910.

Application filed March 21, 1910. Serial No. 550,684.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK M. THORPE, a citlzen of the United States, residing at Lamar, in the county of Barton and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Broom-Hangers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to broom hangers and my object is to produce a device of this character whereby a large number of brooms can be reliably supported overhead, and which when not in use can be collapsed or folded for convenience and cheapness of storage or shipment.

A further object is to produce a hanger of simple, strong, durable and cheap construction.

With these objects in view the invention consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and organization as hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1, is a top plan View of a portion of a broom hanger embodying my invention. Fig. 2, is a view showing the stem of the hanger in section and a. portion of the lower part of the hanger in top plan view. Fig. 3, is a vertical section of the hanger, the section being on the dotted line X of Fig. 1 and on the dotted line Y of Fig. 2.

In the said drawing, 1 indicates the stem of the hanger, preferably of wood and of a proximately the same length as the handle of an ordinary broom. At its lower end the stem is provided with crossed wire loops 2, supporting a ring 3 in a horizontal position, the ring being of substantially greater diameter than the stem 1. At a suitable point above the ring 3, a preferably smaller stop ring 1 is secured around the stem by staples 5 or equivalent fastening devices, and above said stop ring is a slidable ring 6.

Arranged radially with respect to ring 3 are ribs 7, each rib being formed of a single piece of stiff wire bent to provide a pair of inwardly converging arms 8 looped at their inner ends as at 9 to the ring 3, the said arms ,being reversely bentat equal distances from their looped ends to form an inwardly-extending loop 10 of substantially U-form in plan view and opening outwardly, the wire employed in the production of the rib being resilient by preference so that the brush end of the broom when forced edgewise and in a radial direction into said loop may be clamped reliably in position.

At the inner or closed end of each loop 10, the wire is formed with an eye 11, and pivotally connecting said eye with the ring 6, is a brace rod 12, the same being formed with a loop 13 at its upper end for engagement with the ring 6, with a loop 1 1 at its lower end for engagement with the eye 11, the lower end of the wire terminating in a laterally and preferably upwardly extending loop 15 loosely receiving the adjacent brace 12 and overlying one end of the corresponding loop 15 of said brace. When the hanger is in operative position, the looped ends 13 of the braces engage and are arrested in their downward movement by the stop ring 4 and thus prevent the pivoted loops 8 from swinging below a horizontal position, the parts being preferably so proportioned that said ribs shall extend slightly upward and outward as shown in Fig. 3.

When the hanger is not in use the ring 6 is slid upward on the stem and thus through the instrumentality of the braces 12 swing the ribs upward and inward, preferably the limit of such upward movement will be reached when the arms 8 of adjacent ribs meet in their upwardly-converging movement, but the parts may be so arranged that one rib may overlap its neighbor at one side and be overlapped by its neighbor at the opposite side. If this arrangement is followed the ribs obviously can be swung upward until they almost parallel the stem 6.

Above the range of action of ring 6 is a spring catch 16 secured at one end as at 17 to the stem and at its free end engaging an opening 18 in the stem, this catch being of the type common in umbrellas. Preferably the catch will be in duplicate, as shown, that is to say, there will be two catches 16 at diametrically opposite sides of the stem and formed by preference from the same piece of wire.

Extending through the stem just above the free ends of the catches is a cross pin 19, a similar cross pin 20, extending through the stem near its upper extremity and pivotally engaging the stem above said pin 20 is a bail 21 by which the hanger may be sus pended from an overhead support.

22 is a ring fitting loosely around the stem and limited as to downward movement by pin 20, and arranged radially of said ring is a series of ribs 23, each being formed from a single piece of wire bent midway its length to form a loop 24, a pair of loops 25 flanking the loop 24 and a pair of inwardly converging arms 26, terminating at their inner ends in hooks 27, pivotally engaging ring 22 and said loops are arranged. in slightly overlapping relation as shown in Fig. 1 and are secured together by means of radial tie rods 28, formed with loops 29, at their inner ends and with loops 30 at their outer ends, the loops 30 extending through the overlapping portions of loops 25 so as to prevent the same from spreading apart beyond the position shown in Fig. 1 without preventing them from overlapping to a greater extent when the said ribs 23 are swung or folded downward as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, it being im possible for said loops to be swung down ward to reduce the diameter of the circle formed by the loops 24c and 25 without i11- creasing the overlapped relation of the loops 25 of adjacent ribs, as will be readily understood.

Pivotally connected at its upper end to each rib is a brace 31, the latter having an eye 32, embracing the inner side of loop 2&, and an eye 33, at its opposite end pivotally engaging a ring 3 1 fitting loosely around the stem 1, and adapted to slide thereon over the catch or catches 16, and at times to be held against downward movement by the upper or free ends of said catches, it being noticed by reference to Fig. 3, that the cross pin 19 prevents said ring moving upward after it has attained a position upon the upper ends of the catch or catches. When thus arranged the ribs 23 are held in a horizontal position.

When it is desired to told them to inoperative position, catches 16 are pressed inward and ring 34 is slid downward so that through the instrumentality of the braces 31 it shall impart downward swinging movement to the ribs 23. W hen the hanger is in its operative position as shown in full lines Fig. 3, a broom can be secured in position by slipping the upper end of its handle through one of the loops 24 or 25 and then shoving the brush end of the broom edgewise inward until it enters the loop 10 in the vertical plane of the loop 24 or 25 through which said handle is fitted, other brooms being secured in position in the same manner and when a broom is desired, the salesman grasps its lower end and pulls it out-ward to disengage it from loop 10, and lowers it until its handle is withdrawn from the loop 24 or 25 as the use may be, it being understood that the number of loops 2a and 25 will equal the number of loops 10. When the hanger is folded its diameter is materially reduced as will be obvious and it will require much less space for storage or shipment than when its ribs arein operative position, and in this connection it will be understood that the hanger may be employed for supporting mops and other devices as well as brooms.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced a broom hanger possessing the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the object of the invention and I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be re stricted to the exact details of construction shown and described as obvious modifications will suggest themselves to one skilled in the art.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A hanger for brooms and analogous articles, comprising a stem, a ring slidable thereon, means to limit downward movement of the ring, a rib arranged radially with respect and bearing a pivotal relation at its inner end to said stem and provided with an outwardly-opening radially-disposed loop, and a brace pivoted at its upper end to the slidable ring and at its lower end to the said loop.

2. A hanger for brooms and analogous articles, comprising a stem, a ring slidable thereon, means to limit downward movement of the ring, a ring surrounding the stem at its lower end and suitably anchored, a rib arranged radially with respect and bearing a pivotal relation at its inner end to said anchored ring and provided with an outwardly-opening radially-disposed loop, and a brace pivoted at its upper end to the slidable ring and at its lower end to said loop.

3. A hanger for brooms and analogous articles, comprising a stem, a ring slidable thereon, means to limit downward movement of the ring, ribs arranged radially with respect and bearing a pivotal relation at their inner ends to said stem, and provided with outwardly-opening radially-disposed loops, and braces pivoted at their upper ends to the slidable ring and at their lower ends to the said ribs, the lower end of each brace being looped to the adjacent brace. s

4. A hanger for brooms and analogous articles comprising a stem, a ring slidable thereon, means to limit downward movement of the ring, ribs arranged radially with respect and bearing a pivotal relation at their inner ends to said stem and provided with outwardly opening radiallydisposed loops, and braces pivoted at their upper ends to the slidable ring and at their lower ends to the said ribs, each brace being formed with a laterallyextending loop overlapping the adjacent rib at one side and receiving the brace of the adjacent rib.

5. A hanger for brooms and analogous articles, comprising a stem, a spring catch, a ring fitting around the stem and adapted to be slid upward over and supported by the spring, catch at a predetermined height, a rib arranged radially of and bearing a pivotal relation at its inner end to the upper end of the stem and provided at its outer end with a loop, and a brace pivotally connecting the said slidable ring and the outer portion of the said loop.

6. A hanger for brooms and analogous articles, comprising a stem, a spring catch, a ring fitting around the stem and adapted to be slid upward over and supported by the spring catch at a predetermined height, a rib arranged radially of and bearing a pivotal relation at its inner end to the upper end of the stem and provided at its outer end with a loop, a brace pivotally connecting the said slidable ring and the outer portion of the said loop. and means fixed with relation to the stem to limit the upward movement of the said slidable ring.

7. A hanger for brooms and analogous articles, comprising a stem, a spring catch, a ring fitting around the stem and adapted to be slid upward over and supported by the spring catch at a predetermined height, a rib arranged radially of and bearing a pivotal relation to the upper end of said stem and provided at its outer end with a central loop and two flanking loops, and a brace pivoted at its lower end to the said slidable ring and at its upper end to the inner portion of the said central loop of the rib.

8. A hanger for brooms and analogous articles, comprising a stem, a spring catch, a ring fitting around the stem and adapted to he slid upward over and supported by the spring catch at a predetermined height, ribs arranged radially of and bearing a pivotal relation at their inner ends to the upper end of said stem, and each provided with a central loop and a pair of flanking loops, one of the flanking loops of each rib overlapping the adjacent flanking loop of the contiguous rib, braces pivotally connecting the outer portions of the said loops with the said slidable ring, and rods arranged between the ribs and bearing a pivotal relation at their inner ends to the upper end of the stem and looped at their outer ends to the overlapping loops of the adjacent ribs.

9. A hanger for brooms, comprising a stem, ribs arranged radially of the stem and bearing a pivotal relation at their inner ends to said stem and occupying difi'erent hori ment of said undermost slidable ring, a brace pivoted at its upper end to the outer portion of the said upper rib and pivoted at its lower end to the uppermost slidable ring, means to limit upward movement of the said uppermost slidable ring, and a spring catch secured to the stem to support the lastnamed slidable ring at a predetermined height and capable of being pressed out of the-path of the said ring to permit the same.

to slide downward upon the stem.

10. A hanger for brooms, comprising a stem, ribs arranged radially oi": the stem and bearing a pivotal relation at their inner ends to said stem and occupying difierent horizontal planes, the lower ribs having radially disposed outwardly opening loops, and the upper ribs having central loops at their outer ends and flanking loops at opposite sides of the central loops, one of the flanking loops of each rib overlapping one of the flanking loops of the adjacent rib at one side, radial tie-rods between the said upper ribs and looped at their outer ends through the overlapping loops of said ribs and bearing a pivotal relation at their inner ends to the stem, a slidable ring on the stem, inclined braces pivoted at their upper ends to said ring and at their lower ends to the outer portions of said lower ribs, a second slidable ring upon the stem above the first-named slidable ring, a second set of inclined braces pivoted at their lower ends to the uppermost slidable ring and at their upper ends to the central loops of the said upper ribs, means to limit the downward movement of the undermost slidable ring, means to limit the upward movement of the uppermost slidable ring, and spring catches secured to the stem to hold the uppermost slidable ring adjacent to the means for limiting its upward movement and adapted to be pressed out of the path of said uppermost ring to permit the same to be slid downward upon the stem.

11. A hanger for brooms, comprising a stem, ribs arranged radially of the stem and bearing a pivotal relation at their inner ends to said stem and occupying different horizontal planes, the lower ribs having radially-disposed outwardly opening loops, 7 and the upper ribs having central loops at their outer ends and flanking loops at opposite sides of the central loops, one of the flanking loops of each rib overlapping one of the flanking loops of the adjacent rib at one side, radial tie-rods between the said upper ribs and looped at their outer ends through the overlapping loops of said ribs and bearing a pivotal relation at their inner ends to the stem, a slidable ring on the stem, inclined braces pivoted at their upper ends to said ring and at their lower ends to the outer portions of said lower ribs, a second slidable ring upon the stem above the firstnamed slidable ring, a second set of inclined braces pivoted at their lower ends to the uppermost slidable ring and at their upper ends to the central loops of the said upper ribs, means to limit the downward movement of the undermost slidable ring, means to limit the upward movement of the uppermost slidable ring, spring catches secured to the stem to hold the uppermost slidable ring adjacent to the means for limiting its upward movement and adapted to be pressed out of the path of said uppermost ring to permit the same to he slid downward upon the stem, and a bail secured to and projecting beyond the upper end of the stem 15 as a means for suspending the hanger from a suitable support.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANK M. THORPE.

Witnesses JOHN PAHLOW, LESTER L. PAHLOW. 

